Script VO

Clark : Lois, you've had a near-death experience. You should be resting. What are we doing out here?

Loïs : I'm going to find out what Lex is up to. Clark, you, on the other hand, are not required to attend. After what happened to Lana, why don't you take up Chloe's offer and hang out with her at the Talon?

Clark : It's dangerous out here. And it seems that keeping you out of trouble has become a bad habit of mine. Besides, it gives me a good opportunity to say goodbye.

Loïs : [ Chuckles ] You can't break up with me, Clark. We're not even a couple.

Clark : Lois, I'm leaving Smallville... after Lana's funeral.

Loïs : Wow, didn't see that coming. Where are you running away to?

Clark : Up North. There's something I need to do.

Loïs : Well, what about the farm? You can't just let the corn die on the vine.

They start walking again and Lois sees a huge object, partially concealed under brush. She strips away the brush to find a spaceship, with Kryptonian symbols on the side, which she takes a picture of with her cell phone camera.

Loïs : What is that? Holy crap, this is amazing. [ Grunts ] Check this out, Clark. Oh, my God. What do you think it is?

Clark : Lois, it's probably just some sort of experimental airplane.

Loïs : Then why aren't there any windows? And those symbols -- they aren't like any airline logos I've ever seen. If you ask me, we're looking at a real live spaceship.

Clark : Come on, Lois. You and I both know that they don't really exist.

Loïs : And based on this algae, it looks like it's been underwater for a while.

All of a sudden, a figure flies in and knocks Lois off of the ship and to the ground, unconscious. The figure is Kara, who stops and eyes Clark warily. She holds out Lois' cell phone and crushes it in her hand.

Kara : That's what happens when you touch my stuff.

Kara flies into Clark, sending him flying, skidding across the forest floor. When he comes to a stop, Kara is there, hovering in the air above him.

Kara : Go get your girlfriend... and don't ever come back.

Kara flies up into the upper atmosphere, looking down over the Earth. She looks at a crystal in her hand with the Superman 'S' logo on it. It flashes with the image of a baby boy. She looks again across the Earth, then flies back down.

Clark and Lois walk into Chloe's apartment. Chloe has been looking at a file marked Confidential with patient files from Belle Reve in it. She quickly closes the file as they walk in.

Clark : [ Door opens ] I'm serious. You need to go to the hospital.

Loïs : What? For this little bump? My head has been bonked a lot harder than that. Where's my laptop?

Chloe : What happened to you guys?

Loïs : You are gonna want to lock me in the loony bin when I tell you this, but Clark and I just saw a spaceship.

Clark : Lois' imagination has finally kicked into overdrive. It was probably just some sort of styrofoam prop for a school play.

Chloe : Right. That makes sense, actually.

Loïs : Okay, but the world I live in -- school props don't knock people unconscious. I'm thinking maybe a force field.

Clark : How many times do I have to tell you, Lois? You slipped in the mud and hit your head on a rock. I helped you to your feet. Why do you think I've got mud all over me?

Loïs : I know what I saw, Smallville, and once I change, I'm going straight to the Inquisitor. My editor is gonna flip.

Lois walks away, looking for her laptop. Chloe whispers to Clark.

Chloe : Tell me she's just seeing things.

Clark : It's what she didn't see, Chloe -- a Kryptonian girl with blond hair and a bad attitude. She moved so fast that Lois didn't even know what hit her.

Chloe : A Kryptonian attacked Lois?

Clark : Yeah, right before she came after me. Chloe, not only is she as strong as I am... she can fly.

Chloe : Whoa. Sounds like we got ourselves a true-blue supergirl.

Clark : Well, define super. Nearly every Kryptonian that I've come across has turned into a cold-blooded killer.

Chloe : Yeah. What is it with you people? Are you the only half-decent member of your Kryptonian race?

Clark : Listen, I got to go back to the dam. If you can -- [ Lois walks back into the room and she's taking some pills ] Wow, a lot of painkillers for someone who's not feeling any pain.

Loïs : It's just a little headache. By the time I get back to the Inquisitor, I'll be good as gold.

Clark : You've lost consciousness. You could very well have a concussion.

Kara : The House of El has a lot of family secrets that nobody ever discussed. As humans would say, we were... dysfunctional. Look, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but right now we need to find my ship. I'd do it myself, but those green rocks -- they keep weakening me.

Clark : Yeah, trust me -- you want to stay away from them. If you're around them too long, they can kill you.

Gabriel Grant : I know she's family, Lane, but Chloe Sullivan's lost her mojo. Now she's just another run-of-the-mill hack giving herself carpal tunnel covering city hall and Fourth-of-July parades.

Loïs : Look, my cousin's feelings mean a lot more to me than some stupid article.

Gabriel Grant : Your cousin's feelings? How sweet. Let me tell you something, Lane. Newspapers don't have feelings. They have stories, and stories are what pay the bills around here. You think I'm being honored by the Publishers Guild tonight because I'm Mahatma Gandhi, because I give a damn about feelings? No. I break stories any way, any how.

Loïs : Well, you're gonna have to break this one with someone else.

Gabriel Grant : This isn't about your cousin. This so-called flying-saucer story -- it's all smoke and mirrors. You're using some high moral ground to bailout of a sinking ship.

Loïs : [ Scoffs ] This ship is far from sunk, bow tie. I happen to have a contact in the Air Force who supplied me with these. They're satellite photos showing a caravan of trucks driving from the dam to a grain silo in Granville. Does that look like smoke and mirrors to you?

Gabriel Grant : No. It looks like passion, and it's what separates you from the rest of the pack. This is the fork in your road, Lane. In a dozen years, you'll either be Lois Lane, star reporter whose name is synonymous with the Daily Planet, or Lois fill-in-the-blank, married to an insurance adjuster in the sticks with four kids and 40 extra pounds. You won't be able to look in a newspaper because it will always remind you of what could have been. Which road sounds better to you?

Lex : What do you have for me?

Assistant : We applied voice-recognition software and, using our satellites, cast a net over every landline and cellphone on the globe.

Lex : I don't care how wide your net is. If you don't find Lana, it's not worth the string it's made of.

Assistant : We have a match sir. She's in Asia.

Lex : Where?

Assistant : China. Our GPS puts her just a few miles from central Shanghai.

Lex : Prepare the jet for takeoff.

Assistant : Yes, sir.

The elevator in the basement of the Planet dings, but before the doors can even open Kara forces them open, breaking them in the process.

Clark : Those doors would have opened if you'd have just waited.

Kara : We don't have time to wait for ancient technology. Between the two of us, we can cover more ground. Of course, it would help if you could defy gravity. Explain to me again why you can't fly.

Clark : Close your eyes. It might help. Try to focus. I know you can do it. Just try to listen to all the sounds around you.

Slowly, she starts to hear more and more sounds from the surrounding city. All of the sounds come crashing in on her, sending her reeling.

Kara : Make it stop. Make it stop. Oh, make it stop.

Clark : Listen. Listen. I know it's loud at first, but you have to focus, okay? Eliminate the sounds one by one until all you can hear is your ship.

She tries to concentrate and just as slowly, the sounds separate from each other, each one filtering away until all that's left is a steady pulsating sound.

Kara : Kal-El, I -- I can hear it.

Clark : Then we can find it.

Lois has found the facility where the spaceship is being held and is narrating what she is seeing for her video camera, which is rolling.

Loïs : I knew those roadblocks I slipped past weren't there for just a chemical spill. They evacuated the area because of what's down here underground. And judging by that funky sound and the megawatt light show, something is going on behind that door, and it's not laserium.

She opens large automatic door and finds the spaceship.

Loïs: [ Gasps ] Oh, my God. It's official. I found the holy grail.

Lois circles around the ship to where the symbols are all lit up. She reaches out to touch them but when she does, she's blown backwards across the large room and knocked unconscious. Clark and Kara speed in, with Clark rushing to Lois' side. Kara sees that the ship is becoming unstable.

Kara : Uh-oh.

She flies up to the spaceship but the ship glows with an electronic pulse and disappears beneath her.

Clark : Are you okay?

Kara : My ship -- it's gone. What are we gonna do?

Lex is sitting alone on his private jet, repeatedly listening to the recording of himself and Lana from their last day together at the Mansion.

Lana : [ On tape ] That's the last time you'll ever touch me.

Lex : [ On tape ] Do you really think I could just let you walk away?

Lana : [ On tape ] What are you going to do, Lex... kill me?

Tape rewinds

Lana : [ On tape ] That's the last time you'll ever touch me.

Lex : [ On tape ] Do you really think I could just let you walk away?

Lana : [ On tape ] What are you going to do, Lex... kill me?

Tape rewinds

Lana : [ On tape ] That's the last time you'll ever touch me.

Lex : [ On tape ] Do you really think I could just let you walk away?

Lana : [ On tape ] What are you going to do, Lex?

Lex arrives in Shanghai at Lana's apartment and lets himself in. He walks in slowly, taking in the surroundings. Lana is seated at a vanity mirror, wearing a dressing gown and combing her hair. She makes no sign that she has seen him enter until he is in the same room and she turns around with a gun in her hand.

Lex : I'm impressed.

Lana : I did learn from the master. As soon as I heard you'd freed yourself, I laid out the breadcrumbs and waited for the wolf to come knocking. Tell me, Lex. How were you planning on getting your revenge?

Lex : Lana, if I wanted revenge, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I've come here to beg for your forgiveness.

Lex : The things I did to you were beyond inexcusable. I don't blame you for wanting to ruin my life. I probably would have done the same thing... only not as elegantly. I always knew you were smart, Lana. I didn't know you were brilliant... using my own science against me.

Lana : It wasn't science, Lex. It was your own psychosis. You cloned me.

The scene shifts to a flashback of that day - showing Lana stealing Model 503, an exact replica of herself, and zipping up the clone into a body bag. Later, we see her placing the body into the car which is rigged to explode, then securing her get away into the mail truck that drove by just before the explosion.

Lex : Not exactly. Model 503 was never alive. That's why you were able to wheel it out of my lab and place it in your driver's seat. By the time the car exploded, you were safe and sound while model 503, with your DNA, was being blown to bits. It was perfect. As far as the world's concerned, Lana Luthor is dead and buried.

Lana : And a dead woman can't be convicted of murder. You'll never hurt another person again, Lex.

Lex : I don't want to.

He steps closer to her, running his chest into the muzzle of her gun.

Lana : Don't come any closer.

Lex : I want to give youa better target. After all the pain I've put you through, I deserve to die. Please, Lana. Pull the trigger. I promise you the world will be a better place. Do it. Kill me.

Both of their faces are brimming with emotion, but ultimately Lana cannot shoot Lex and he gently places his hand on hers, and takes the gun away.

Lex : If you want to come back to Smallville, you'll be safe. I'll take care of everything. You can live your life however you want. My father's gone, presumed dead. And as for me... I would never, ever hurt you again. I'm sorry, Lana.

He turns and walks slowly away, setting the gun on a dresser in the room as he leaves.

Lois and Chloe are back at Chloe's desk at the Planet.

Loïs : All that spaceship got me were two concussions and a fried green camcorder. You were right. I never should have chased that story.

Chloe : I tried to warn you, Lois. When you're scaling the Wall of Weird, there aren't any mattresses to break your fall.

Loïs : To think I could have landed a job at the Daily Planet. What a joke. I am no Chloe Sullivan and never will be.

Gabriel walks into the basement, holding Lois' story in his hands.

Gabriel Grant : Lane, I just read your story. It's ridiculous.

Chloe jumps to Lois' defense but Gabriel cuts her off again.

Chloe : It was just her first draft, Mr. Gabriel.

Gabriel Grant : It's absurd how good it is. Your prose leaps off the page like a bengal tiger. I was riveted.

Loïs : [ Shocked ] So, you're actually gonna run it?

Gabriel Grant : Absolutely not. It's utterly unprintable. I don't care if every word of it is true. I can't run a story about a ship from outer space without a photo. You got to learn, Lane. Always carry a backup camera.

Chloe jumps to Lois' defense again, and again Gabriel cuts her off.

Chloe : If you would just give her a second chance --

Gabriel Grant : You like water, Lane?

Loïs : [ Sarcastically ] As much as the next girl.

Gabriel Grant : I'm giving you a waterfront view. This is your new desk right here, right across from cousin Chloe.

Now Chloe is shocked and can't hide her dismay.

Chloe : Excuse me?

Gabriel Grant : If you're lucky, Sullivan, some of her passion will rub off on you, maybe put a little fire on that Torch you let burn out after high school.

Loïs : Am I hearing things, or did you just offer me a job?

Gabriel Grant : Welcome to the Daily Planet, Lois Lane. You play your cards right, you'll be out of this basement quicker than your cousin. Nothing like a little family rivalry to keep the bullpen hopping.

Lois looks uneasily at Chloe who looks like she's been sucker-punched, but Lois also can't hide her excitement.

Clark : Kara? You okay?

Kara : How did it happen? Krypton, I mean.

Clark : I don't know.

Kara : I'd always heard whispers of a doomsday scenario, but I never thought anyone would actually do it. We were supposed to be the most advanced civilization in the galaxy.

Clark : One thing I've learned is that evil exists in all cultures, no matter how advanced they are.

Kara : Maybe if I had had my abilities on Krypton, I could have saved it.

Clark : You saved a lot of people here today. You should feel good about that.

Kara : [ Sighs ] It's different for you, Kal-El. You don't have any memory of Krypton. This has always been your home.

Clark : Well, then, be my memory. Tell me about my family.

Kara : It's hazy from all those years of sleep in the ship. I do remember some. [ Chuckles ] I used to, uh, sneak away from Kandor and come and see Lara. She always made me smile.

Clark : You knew my mom?

Kara : The day she found out she was pregnant, I'd never seen her so happy. [ Sighs ] You were so cute. You were her miracle baby. And now she's gone. My parents are gone, the entire House of El. I'll never see any of my family ever again.

Clark : Well, you're with family now. Look, you can stay here with me on the farm as long as you want. You know, these humans are not as bad as you think.

Kara : [ Sniffles ] Thank you, Kal-El. I mean, Clark. I just wish I didn't feel like such a failure. I made my father a promise, and I couldn't keep it.

Clark : Kara, that wasn't your fault. We can't always be everything our fathers expect us to be. I know that firsthand.

Kara : The way he spoke of the crystal -- he told me to guard it with my life, and now it's gone.

Clark : Wait, there's a crystal in that ship?

Kara : With all of my directives and the power to help me along the way. If that crystal fell into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous.

Clark : Luckily, we don't have to worry about that since it was destroyed with the ship.

Kara : No. That explosion wouldn't scratch the crystal. Only a Kryptonian can destroy it. I've searched everywhere. That crystal is gone.

The government official arrives back at the Department of Domestic Security, holding a vessel with Kara's crystal inside. He is speaking on the phone as he walks.

Government Official : [ On the phone ] Hmm. The spacecraft was eviscerated, but all is not lost.

Clark stands at the crystal console at the Fortress of Solitude, speaking to Jor-El.